


A Lonely Sea Witch

by Hanako1031



Category: Den lille Havfrue | The Little Mermaid - Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid (1989), The Little Mermaid - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate History, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dark Magic, Drama, F/M, Intrigue, Magic, Mystery, POV Female Character, Villain PoV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-28
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-09-01 18:41:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16770712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hanako1031/pseuds/Hanako1031
Summary: The things you discover when a “villain” tell their side of a story.





	A Lonely Sea Witch

**Author's Note:**

> I’m using the main characters from the Disney version, but the sisters are all original characters. I’ve mixed the Hans-Christian Anderson version with the Disney version, so if there are some inconsistencies in how the story in comparison to the Disney version, that’s why.

You know how the one who comes out on top can twist the narrative in their favor? Little Ariel did that. She made the world believe that she was the innocent in her grand fairy tale. She had us all fooled, really. Her father, her sisters, and me, her Aunt Ursula. That's what always happens, and Ariel played us all for fools. But, I am here to set the record straight and give this lowly villain her side of the story. It doesn't matter much whether you believe my story. It only matters that it's been told, because I've kept silent for far too long and let the words of the real monster go too far.

Ariel was a handful as a child. The tiny little girl with eyes and hair blacker than squid's ink had a temperament that rivaled that of her father on a bad day. Tantrums over anything - food not to her liking, jewels that didn't fit right, asking for the latest toys yet throwing them away, or teachers not listening to her every whim. It all stemmed from the sadness she felt at being separated from her sisters. She lived with them, ate with them, but couldn't study with them. Their age difference was one factor, but what Ariel really wanted was to join in their magic studies. She was jealous of her powerful, talented, and well-practiced witch sisters. The eldest, Auburn, who at the time was twenty-one, had a knack for controlling the waves like her father and was training to be the next queen. As such, she studied with me and her father exclusively. The twins, Anne and Anja, were master healers and at only nineteen years old were the best doctors in the seven seas. The triplets Arita, Aria, and Arietta, who were actually born a year apart but referred to as such because they were always together, performed for the masses and used their skills to create magnificent spectacles for the kingdom. Little Ariel, however, was born without even a smidgen of magic, so she shouted and cried and wailed. I lost count of how many times I told her I could neither make her magical nor change who she was. Reason fell on deaf ears, because in a world full of magic, anything seems possible.

She only ever found solace in her sisters’ tales of the surface world, because at sixteen (and every birthday after it) royals were allowed to surface and gaze upon the world of humans as a means to understand those with whom we must interact and respect on a regular basis. With six sisters to give her stories, Ariel would lie still at their fins listening intently of the people and places from near and far, all as different as the shapes of coral in a reef. How could we have known that in her desperation to be unique, Ariel had concocted a plan much darker and crueler than anything we could have imagined?

Ariel’s first visit to the surface world went on without a hitch, and upon her return I saw, what surface dwellers refer to as "a fire" in her eyes. We were all ecstatic over her transformation. She was excited and exclaimed over the wonders of man. She told of a celebration boat, people dancing, and sounds like nothing she'd ever heard before. There were sparks and bright lights shot into the sky that exploded into a thousand stars made of colors she’d never thought possible. Triton was elated, her sisters relieved, and I was happy for little Ariel. She finally found something that was truly hers to enjoy. From then on, she began collecting items from the human world. After classes, she would hungrily grab an empty purse and swim off with her fish friends, in search of sunken ships. We all knew of her self-proclaimed secret cave and its location. She was a princess of the high seas; she never went anywhere alone. She’d bragged about it to her sisters, they'd all giggle in support of their naive baby sister, but all in good fun. Her collection included spy glasses large and small, hundreds of pages of blotted out notes, paintings, cutlery, books, and pictures.

Months went by like this, Ariel collecting, sisters learning, and Triton and I doing our best to keep the kingdom in order. However, the time had come for my ambassadorial visit to the surface. As the representative for the kingdom of the ocean, it was part of my duties to parley with the closest neighboring kingdom. However, what I wasn’t supposed to do, was fall in love. And fall madly in love, I did. Honestly, it happened so suddenly that to this day I’m not sure who approached the other first. Just like every other visit, I went to the shore and transformed into my human self. I mostly go unchanged. My figure remained slender but with slightly larger hips, my hair became long locks of pristine white hair and deep golden speckled turquoise eyes. As usual, I made my way to the palace noting how much everything had changed. My visits were scarce, a mere once every fifty years, so it was natural that many things change. And this time, I was greeted by Prince Eric. Young, handsome, but more than anything, respectful and smart. He’d studied in the naval academy, was a strong and able fencer, and could ride a horse as well as he could swim, which was excellent. Our conversation that evening went on for hours, and before either of us noticed, the sun had already begun to set. From then on, I knew my next visit couldn’t wait another fifty years. I went to see him every day. There were also many times when he would swim down to an underwater cave that had a small patch of beach to meet me. He never cared that I was half octopus or that I was nearly two thousand years old. To him, I was perfect, and he was my everything. A wonderful year had passed between us, and he proposed on the anniversary of our meeting. Life was beautiful.

On the very eve I had planned on telling Triton about the human life I wanted with Eric, Ariel let loose her most devious plot. Triton had been suspicious of my actions as of late, but was too busy with the kingdom to worry over it. The girls could all tell I was happier, and the triplets on a few occasions had helped me sneak away. All in all, especially with my engagement, it was time to break the news. Triton and I were in the throne room when Auburn and the twins swam in screaming, while the triplets lugged an unconscious Ariel in their arms. Auburn had caught her messing about my potion room looking for something to make her human. Right before her sister’s eyes, Ariel dunked her head into the whirling cauldron and drank in whatever nonsense she had created. Anne and Anja’s healing powers were useless against the concoction and Ariel was changing fast. Her black hair was losing its color leaving a wickedly sinister red in it's place, and her eyes were bleaching into a ghostly blue. Quickly, I told the twins exactly what I needed and got to work. The entire episode was sadistic and cruel. Although I saved her, she was forever changed, and clever little Ariel played it off as if it were my fault. Why was it that Aunt Ursula could be human whenever she wanted, but the daughter who really loved surface world was stuck under the waves? She also revealed that I had been visiting the surface nearly everyday since my last visit, thereby neglecting my duties towards the ocean kingdom. Triton gave into his rage, stripping me of my titles and putting me on house arrest, then he sent all of his daughters away for the night. No one can change Triton’s mind once it has been made. Pleading for true love or personal wants never made a dent in him. He always cared for the kingdom first. Therefore, my inability to balance my emotions and responsibilities was my true downfall. So, I was left to spend my days away from my love with no warning, and no way to calm my brother.

All the while Ariel's accident had somehow gifted her with the magic she'd always wanted. In no time at all, she’d mastered many skills and had become especially profound in the art of curses. Ariel skillfully used her growing power to her advantage. She opened a side business that catered to the weak of heart and small of pocket. She would grant wishes in exchange for payment in secrets: cure a mother in exchange for information or kill an opponent for incriminating words against the aunt she would eventually use to grant her own wish. Because for all her power, Ariel still couldn't make herself human. Soon enough, she had discovered my secret from a palace guard. The man had seen Eric and I together in our special cave and knew immediately that we were lovers. This was her weapon, her poison arrow, to use against me and make me do whatever she wanted. Because to control anyone, you need only find the thing they love and threaten to squeeze the life out of it. Ariel was surprisingly adept in this field.

One evening, Ariel came to me, a weeping mess. She could no longer stay under the sea, she pleaded. She wanted the freedom to roam the earth and live amongst the people with which she felt so connected. I didn't believe her. There was a part of me that told me not to believe her, and I told her so. There and then she revealed her power to me. Awesome and frightful all at once, I feared for my brother, my nieces, the kingdom, but most of all the humans if she was let loose as she was. Still I refused, but she came prepared with the evidence of my lover. We both knew Triton wouldn't let me have a human for a husband. I love my brother, but he is a man of tradition. Tradition stated that humans and mer-people are never to mix. Let alone marry. Ariel, knowing this, threatened to kill Prince Eric unless I turned her human, permanently. I took that as my chance to make things right. I agreed to make a potion that would make her human for three days. If she could find someone to marry her before the last sunset, she could stay as a human. If not, she would be cursed to live as a mermaid, stripped of her magic, and be my slave until the day she died. Ariel agreed, perhaps because she knew she'd win. The potion was made, the contract signed, and the price for such magic was her voice. The price was my last trump card against her. Without words, she could not use magic and would be forced to be her true self in front of man. It wasn’t ideal, but it was the best I could do. I sealed her in a bubble, infused it with magic and filled it with the mist from the potion. Ariel’s fin split in two and the beautiful emerald colored appendage changed to human skin covered legs. She floated to the surface and was pushed to sea by some nearby dolphins. From there a few fisherman rescued her from the water and took her into town.

Once she was out of sight, I immediately transformed and ran to the castle. Short of breath, I practically collapsed in Eric’s arms, and cried tears of happiness and fear. I wept in his arms while trying to explain what had transpired just a few moments ago. He was strong and brave while I feebly held onto his warm and comforting frame. There were many questions, and I did my best to answer them. The main thing we both understood was that we needed to save our kingdoms from her. We agreed to meet the next day with clear heads and calm hearts to face the enemy square on.

Had I known she could use magic without her voice, I would never have left the castle. Eric was a sitting duck prepped for the final shot. Ariel commanded the fisherman to care, cloth and feed her. The next morning, she had them take her to the castle where she wasted little time meddling about. She had servants lead her directly to his room where she bewitched him to marry her. When I arrived that afternoon, I knew immediately that something was wrong. Eric wouldn’t look me in the eye and was strangely aloof. My words fell on deaf ears and no matter what I did, he never moved from his blank state. As I saw Ariel gracefully glide down the staircase, I felt my heart sink to my stomach. With an unabashed glow of confidence, she linked her arm with Eric’s and leaned her head on his shoulder, her ginger hair cascading down his chest. It was like being stabbed a thousand times over. She’d taken my only happiness in one deadly swoop and I was powerless. As I turned to run away, Ariel simply smiled deviously at her defeated opponent.

Perhaps now you’ll see villains in a different light. I can’t speak for all characters that have been painted with the wicked brush of evil, but I will say this. Victors have rewritten history since the beginning of time, your fairy tales are no different. I did not die at sea from being impaled by a hundred year old shipwreck. I am alive, if not well, and I thank you for taking a few moments of your day to listen to the aching heart of a broken sea-woman.

**Author's Note:**

> Phew, there. Ursula’s real story. I didn’t do much in terms of world building because I wanted to keep this story to one chapter. It also made sense (to me anyway) that Ursula wouldn’t give massive descriptions when she knows the person reading has a general idea of where she lives. The only thing I really took the time to flesh out was her appearance, since she’s trying to clear up as many misconceptions as possible in the little time she has with the reader.
> 
> What did you think?


End file.
